There were some big news stories following NCAA Football Week 3 action:
Urban Meyer Opens Up
Urban Meyer spoke to ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi and gave some more insight into the Zach Smith saga. Meyer admitted that he should not have brought the coach with him to Ohio State due to his legal trouble at Florida. Smith was fired this summer by Ohio State after allegations of physical abuse against his ex wife surfaced.
The Ohio State University suspended Meyer for three games due to his handling of the situation, and his failure to report information to the school’s athletic department. Urban Meyer stood by Smith through several legal issues, and chose to continue to keep him on staff despite knowing about the abuse.
The three-game suspension ended on Sunday and Meyer will return to the sidelines for the Buckeyes in week four. Ohio State went 3-0 during Meyer’s absence with Ryan Day serving as the interim coach.
Nebraska Loses Again
The Nebraska Cornhuskers have still not won a game under new head coach Scott Frost. Nebraska suffered a stunning home loss to Troy on Saturday afternoon by a score of 24-19. This is the second straight season that Troy has knocked off a team from a power-5 conference after beating LSU last season. Nebraska paid the Sun Belt Conference school 1.15 million dollars for coming to play them on Saturday.
With the loss, the Huskers fell to 0-2 for the first time since the 1957 season. Nebraska finished with a 1-9 record that season. Nebraska was playing without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez in this game, and got off to a sloppy start in falling behind 0-17. The Huskers will open up Big 10 play next weekend with a road game against the University of Michigan.
Clemson Still Has QB Controversy
The Clemson Tigers have still not settled on just one quarterback this season, and things got a little more tricky on them in week three. Starting quarterback Kelly Bryant suffered an injury in the first half of their week three victory, and freshman Trevor Lawrence once again put on a show.
The status of Bryant moving forward is unclear, but Lawrence has clearly outplayed Bryant and has more talent. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney insists that the team will still use two quarterbacks moving forward, but it’s getting harder to deny that Lawrence shouldn’t overtake Bryant as the starter. Clemson will open up ACC play next weekend as they travel to Georgia Tech to take on the Yellow Jackets.
Akron Earns Historic Victory
The University of Akron made history on Saturday night after earning a shocking upset win of Northwestern. Akron was trailing by a 21-3 score entering halftime, but the Zips put together a terrific second half performance to beat the Wildcats 39-34. Akron was able to get two defensive touchdowns in the second half that helped to put the game away. The victory was Akron’s first win over a Big Ten opponent since 1894.
Kansas Now Has A Winning Streak
The University of Kansas snapped a 46 game road losing streak last weekend with a victory over Central Michigan. The Jayhawks were able to keep the momentum going on Saturday and absolutely rolled over Rutgers University who hails from the Big Ten. Kansas took advantage of some sloppy play from Rutgers to earn a 55-14 victory over the Scarlet Knights. This is the first time since 2009 that the Jayhawks have won back-to-back games, and they did so against two FBS opponents.
Syracuse Ends Losing Streak to FSU
Willie Taggart’s first season as Florida State’s head coach is off to a very rough start. The Seminoles were dominated in the second half by Syracuse University and suffered a 30-7 defeat. This was the first time that Syracuse has defeated Florida State since 1996. Syracuse held a slim 6-0 lead entering halftime, but a quick burst in the second half broke the game open with a 23-0 score.
The Florida State offense struggled mightily again in this game, and quarterback Deondre Francois was under pressure all afternoon. The Seminoles fell to 1-2 on the season and have scored a combined ten points in their two losses. Florida State will try to get back on track when they host Northern Illinois next weekend.
